Letter discovery inspires tale of train troubles
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/06/2021 (1935 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A few years ago, MaryLou Driedger came across an old letter from her grandfather, Peter Schmidt.
In the letter, written in 1907, he wrote about the time when he was 12 years old and became separated from his family while making a trek from Kansas to Saskatchewan.
The Mennonite family was travelling by train to their new home in Canada, their livestock in a boxcar while the family was in a passenger coach. Peter volunteered to ride with the animals, to look after them. Somewhere along the way the boxcar was uncoupled from the train — something his parents only discovered when they arrived at their new home.
Driedger, a columnist for the Steinbach Carillon and a former faith page columnist at the Free Press, was intrigued. Her curiosity led her to write Lost on the Prairie, a new children’s book that will be launched online on June 16, 7 p.m. through McNally Robinson Booksellers.
“The letter didn’t say what happened, or how he was found,” says Driedger, a retired teacher who works for the Winnipeg Art Gallery. “I was curious. What happened to him during that time?”
She researched railway lines back then to see what route he would have travelled on, looking for places the car could have become detached. She decided to locate it in Sisseton, South Dakota, at the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate reservation.
Driedger went to the reservation to do research and interview local people and elders; later, after the book was written, she had it reviewed by an Indigenous cultural adviser.
“I learned a lot through this,” she said, adding she also researched old newspapers from the time to learn what was happening in that area.
Faith is also part of the book. “It’s integrated into the story, as Peter looks to God for comfort,” she said.
During his adventure, Peter faces dangers and meets people from all walks of life, including Mark Twain. Along the way he becomes more resourceful, courageous, and self-reliant before reaching the family’s new home in Saskatchewan.
“Travelling from the United States to Canada is an immigration story that many Mennonites share,” said Driedger, adding it might connect with refugee children in Canada today who might also have been separated from their parents during their harrowing journeys.
To register for the launch, visit www.mcnallyrobinson.com.
faith@freepress.mb.ca
The Free Press is committed to covering faith in Manitoba through our Religion in the News project. This reporting continues because readers like you step forward to fund it.
Donate now to support our reporting on religion.
Your donation is eligible for a charitable tax receipt.
BECOME A FAITH JOURNALISM SUPPORTER
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
The Free Press is committed to covering faith in Manitoba through our Religion in the News project. This reporting continues because readers like you step forward to fund it.
Donate now to support our reporting on religion.
Your donation is eligible for a charitable tax receipt.
BECOME A FAITH JOURNALISM SUPPORTER
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Advertisement Advertise With Us
Advertisement Advertise With Us
The Free Press acknowledges the financial support it receives from members of the city’s faith community, which makes our coverage of religion possible.
